CONSENSUS: DAVIS LIKELY TO GET RUBBER STAMP FROM LEAGUE

When NFL owners meet in Chicago Friday to address the
Raiders, Will McDonough reports, "There will be no major effort
to stop Al Davis from moving his Raiders back to Oakland for one
simple reason: He will move his team from Los Angeles with or
without legal approval, and if the NFL tries to stop him, as it
did when he went the opposite way 13 years ago, it will lose in
court again." NFL owners have been told by their legal advisers
that they had a better chance of stopping the Rams from moving to
an open market than they would have stopping Davis' move to the
Bay. McDonough notes that the 49ers may look for compensation
from the league that may come when a franchise moves or is placed
in L.A. (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/9). In Atlanta, Len Pasquarelli agrees
that the vote will be favorable for the Raiders, as long as Davis
"formally seeks the permission of his peers. Given Davis' track
record, there was some concern that he'd simply order the moving
vans without the endorsement of his brethren" (ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 7/9).
EYE ON L.A. McDonough reports "the suspicion in the league
is that Ken Behring, the owner of the Seahawks, will be the first
to take a shot at moving into Los Angeles" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/9).
In Tampa, Pat Yasinskas reports that NFL owners believe an empty
L.A. "is for their own good." Although TV and NFL officials
"don't want the nation's second-largest market empty, the owners
do. It gives them the biggest trump card ever" (TAMPA TRIBUNE,
7/9).
DETAILS: The deal likely to be approved tomorrow by the
Oakland City Council will give the Raiders many perks that were
"previously hidden," and commit "civic checkbooks to cover all
cost overruns" for the renovation of the stadium, according to
Barry Witt in the SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS. Among the details
released: the team will be exempt from "a large chunk" of
property taxes, and the public will pay for charter plane trips
for the team and their families from L.A. for games this year
(SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/8).